In Yadith, capital of Addus, inside the Baruch royal palace.
The armed forces of the Savior’s Advent Sect had snuck into the palace from every direction, lying in wait for the signal to strike. But abruptly, they were blindsided by an unforeseen blow. From the thickly overcast sky, a flurry of lightning bolts began to descend without warning, each brilliant flash striking precisely where the Savior’s troops were hidden around the palace. Caught unprepared, many were scorched alive in mere seconds.
Those who intended an ambush were themselves ambushed instead. Under the barrage of lightning, even Beyonders among the sect’s forces were cut down one by one. Some at Black Earth rank could not withstand a single direct hit. Anyone struck by the blasts was essentially doomed. The overwhelming force of these thunderbolts—complete with brilliant flashes and deafening rumbles—inflicted severe psychological pressure on the sect’s troops. Even devout fanatics would waver under such a seemingly godlike assault. Initially, they managed to uphold their discipline, but after multiple companions were struck dead while they remained powerless to fight back, disarray and panic took over. If it continued, these hundreds—ranging from normal soldiers to White Ash-rank Beyonders—would be destroyed by the relentless storm.
At that moment, a mysterious power emanated from the palace’s negotiation hall, spreading outward and swiftly covering the entire palace grounds. As soon as the Savior’s Advent fighters felt its influence, they underwent a stark transformation: their panic and fear subsided, and a powerful sense of self-control seized their minds, leaving no room for terror.
Chaos and disorder thus became strict taboos to them. They stopped screaming, stopped fleeing, and re-formed their lines, gazes fixed on the distant negotiation hall.
“Lord Muhtar has given the signal! Everyone, charge! Destroy the heretics! Purify Yadith—Addus belongs to our Lord!”
“Addus belongs to our Lord!!”
Heeding that rallying cry, the sect’s troops—regrouped from their earlier confusion—raised their voices in unison, surging in from all directions to the palace’s negotiation hall. Though lightning still hammered down at a rate of about one strike per second, killing them continuously…
…this time, no matter how fearsome the lightning, the troops remained unmoved. Even as the bolts struck all around, felling comrade after comrade, their will held firm. Weapons in hand, they pressed on toward the negotiation hall. Moments later, they forced their way inside, flooding the spacious chamber. Standing amid a scorched crater at its center, Muhtar saw reinforcements streaming in and shouted harshly.
“Kill every heretic—leave no one alive!”He pointed to the Church envoys, issuing an unmistakable command. In his mind, these bizarre lightning attacks—supposedly summoned by the “Priestess of Heaven’s Arbiter”—were nothing more than schemes engineered by the Holy Mount’s delegation. Why else would that priestess appear at the perfect moment?
Deciding firmly that the envoys were behind it, Muhtar wasted no time. He cast supportive buffs on his forces and ordered them to charge despite the ongoing lightning. No matter if this “Heaven’s Arbiter Priestess” was real or not, no matter whether she was connected to the false Trinity Gods, he had to eliminate the envoys first. Sorting out other details would come after.
Hearing Muhtar’s order, the armed members of the Savior’s Advent Sect who had rushed in brandished their weapons and charged at the envoys. Prepared for combat from the outset, the envoys promptly activated their abilities, bracing for the fight.
“Sister Vania, you must leave now! We’ll hold them off—find a way to escape Yadith and report this to the Holy Mount!”
Igniting his longsword with flame, Gaspard, leader of the envoy’s guard, addressed Vania with resolute urgency. Though he and Vania were from different factions of the Church, with the threat at hand, he steadfastly performed his duty to protect her.
Upon hearing Gaspard, Vania hesitated for a moment, then clenched her teeth and nodded grimly.
“Then I’m leaving it to all of you, Brother Gaspard… please do everything you can to hold on. I’ll find a way to save everyone…” murmuring her resolve, Vania darted away, leaping through an open window to flee the negotiation hall.
Gaspard, seeing her go, exhaled in relief before turning and swinging his flaming blade at an attacker who’d rushed him. The blow melted flesh in an inferno, leaving the unfortunate foe writhing and screaming as he collapsed.
Then Gaspard glanced at the enemies swarming in once more, grimly muttering.
“At this rate, there’s nothing left to save…”
With that, he continued to wield his flame-wreathed sword, leading the elite guards in a pitched battle against the oncoming forces of the Savior’s Advent Sect. In seconds, the entire negotiation hall was engulfed in chaotic fighting.
Amid the melee, Muhtar stood at the chamber’s center, scanning the turmoil. With the keen perception granted by his Lantern ability, he quickly spotted Vania slipping away through the window. Sneering, Muhtar’s body rose, hovering a few inches off the ground as he drifted from the hall, giving chase.
Inside the hall, Shadi watched Muhtar depart, then surveyed the battlefield. Quietly, he instructed his trusted confidants.
“Wait until the right moment, then join the fray… Understood?”
“Understood…” they answered.
With that said, Shadi hastened out, leaving the negotiation hall. Once clear of everyone’s view, the desiccated phantom form of the mummy Setut appeared at his side. Shadi glanced at the specter and spoke.
“I’m counting on you this time… Setut…”
“Hah, as if it was ever different…”
Setut whispered wryly, then drifted into Shadi, their forms overlapping. The next moment, Shadi’s pupils took on a faint bluish-white glow, and an abrupt chill emanated from him, each breath now condensed into a pale vapor.
…
A short distance away, Muhtar, having floated out of the negotiation hall, drifted along corridors and passageways until he reached a lush garden within the palace grounds. There, he caught sight of Vania. Past the garden lay a side gate leading out of Barurch Royal Palace.
“You’re not getting away… heretic nun…”
Muttering under his breath, Muhtar floated after Vania, who appeared to be fleeing. With a wave of his hand, he declared in a resonant tone.
“Commandment: No one is permitted to leave Baruch Royal Palace.”
Upon Muhtar reciting this commandment, the ritual he had secretly arranged last night around the palace—capable of synchronizing with his power—was activated. Through numerous small hidden ritual markers placed beyond the palace’s perimeter, a large-scale ritual now shrouded the entirety of Barurch Royal Palace.
Meanwhile, Vania reached the garden’s edge, where she spotted a side gate to the outside. She immediately ran toward it. But the instant she stepped across the threshold, a sudden shift occurred.
Without warning, several thin slashes split open Vania’s white nun’s habit. Beneath each rent in the fabric lay a deep, bloody welt, as though she had been lashed with an unseen whip.
By violating the commandment and exiting the palace, Vania triggered its punitive effect. Though no weapon had struck her, vivid wounds appeared on her body. She cried out in pain and staggered back two steps, clutching at the injuries that had materialized out of nowhere, her face displaying shock.
At that moment, Muhtar arrived from behind. He extended one hand, pointing the white jade ring he wore on his right toward Vania. From it, a faint yellowish ray shot forth, on track to strike her directly.
Just then, as Vania ran, she sidestepped in a swift, fluid motion that evaded the invisible beam—a beam she should not have been able to see coming. She spun around to charge Muhtar, and a sharp sword somehow appeared in her hand.
Sword in hand, Vania stepped forward, thrusting the blade at Muhtar’s body. There was still enough distance between them for Muhtar to react. He intended to speak a certain incantation—but at that instant, an icy wind rushed from behind him. By the time Muhtar sensed the abnormal spirituality, it was already too late. In an instant, the chill wind enveloped him, and thick frost congealed across his entire body, freezing him solid. The small river in the garden turned to ice under that frigid gale, and a white layer of frost coated every leaf.
Locked in place, Muhtar turned his gaze toward the source of the cold, where he saw a familiar figure, Shadi.
“Shadi… so you really are… a traitor…”
Seeing Shadi, Muhtar’s face contorted in rage—then the ice sealed his expression, freezing him motionless. Right then, a brilliant flash shot across the garden sky. Another thick lightning bolt slashed downward and struck Muhtar’s frozen form, shattering the ice sculpture at once and ripping apart his flesh amid the ice shards.
With both electricity and shards tearing his body, Muhtar’s skin split open in countless wounds, blood staining his already tattered robes. At that moment, Vania arrived from the opposite side. Seizing the opportunity, she drove her blade straight into Muhtar’s chest, piercing his heart.
Normally… indeed, for most Beyonders, a pierced heart meant certain death. But not for Muhtar. Though he let out a howl of pain, he still managed to lift the ring on his hand and once more fired a faint beam at Vania. Attuned with her heightened senses, Vania dodged again, pulling out the sword impaled in Muhtar’s chest. Muhtar staggered backward to gain distance. Seeing him still alive despite his heart being run through, Vania and Shadi were plainly taken aback. Shadi couldn’t help remarking inwardly.
“He’s still not dead despite a vital strike… I thought there were limits to that ability, but this Soul-Surpassing technique is terrifying…
“He’s basically fueling his broken body via his spirit—he’s half-undead now. We can’t kill him in one blow; we need continuous hits so that eventually his spirit can’t handle the accumulated damage and collapses. Injuring his body does still harm him!”
Merged with Shadi, the wraith Setut quickly explained, and Shadi prepared to resume the attack. But Vania moved first, brandishing her sword to dash forward.
Seeing the nun with an altogether different aura now that she carried a sword, Muhtar showed no sign of fear. As Vania closed in, he hurled a small glass vial that gave off a faint glow. It smashed upon hitting the ground, erupting in a bright flash. Momentarily dazzled, Vania halted, shutting her eyes. Guided by her Insight, she sensed Muhtar’s location and swung at him. However, that instant of disorientation was enough for Muhtar to do what he intended.
In the glare, Muhtar said nothing aloud, but in the language of the spirit, he spoke a solemn decree.
“Commandment: let none inflict harm. All who wound me shall suffer tenfold in return!”
As Muhtar invoked his ability, Shadi, who as a Silence Beyonder could perceive the intangible incantation, felt alarmed and shouted.
“Stop!”
At Shadi’s outcry, Vania tried to hold back her strike. But by then, her sword was already at Muhtar’s neck, and her momentum was immense. Pulling back the blow wasn’t so easy. She’d channeled nearly her full strength into the slash, and with her second-stage Chalice enhancement, she could have lopped Muhtar’s neck clean off, be it ten times over. The reaction time was too brief to cancel such power. Even by employing every technique to soften the blow, she couldn’t fully stop the slash. Her eyes went wide, realizing she was about to sever Muhtar’s head.
At that critical moment, a separate force suddenly reached Vania’s body through the Marionette Mark, gripping her entire form with an alien power. It commanded her to halt the slash. Thanks to that help, she managed to rein in much of her strength, stopping short of fully decapitating Muhtar, and pulling back her sword. Still, drawing the blade away raked open the skin of Muhtar’s neck, leaving a bloody gash.
Instantly, ten crisscrossing cuts appeared on Vania’s own pale throat, fresh blood streaming from them. Eyes wide with alarm, she clutched the wounds and staggered backward several steps.